Sharing Christ During Terminal Illness
Many times the people we have wanted to share Christ with were unapproachable due to personal conflict with them in the past. Some because of miles separating both of you.
Crisis Evangelism is what I call, “The last effort to share your faith.” This will be the the end of the road for them avoiding hell unless they hear and accept Christ as their Savior. Terminal illness is such a great avenue to use sharing with our loved ones that have perhaps avoided the conversation about heaven/hell/death/life here after.
This is a proven technique that has been used successfully with blood relatives as well as people asking me to visit their blood relative who is dying and they want me to present the information. Of course want to help them get the Gospel news to their dying blood relative.
After learning the individual is confined to home or hospice care, I call and talk to the caregiver asking if I can come for a short visit. I have never been denied a visit to a dying blood relative or close friend.
Upon arriving at their home or hospice, I enter the room and personally approach their bed and hold out my hands to greet them. I then ask them for permission to pray for them during this sickness?
I usually word the request this way, “Gee David, it sure is great to see you. I am so sorry it is under these circumstances. With your permission may I offer up a prayer asking God to be in this struggle you are going through.
Holding their hands, I lower my head and offer up this suggested prayer:
“Dear Lord. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend time with “David” today. Lord I have been told that you are going to be allowing David’s life to close soon. I so appreciate the opportunity you have given me Lord to know David and observe his life. He has helped a lot of people during his life time Lord and I thank you for giving him a servants heart. Please make yourself known to David as we visit today and for the next days David is awake and willing to listen to you knocking on his heart. God, you are the great healer and of course we pray for David’s recovery against all medical information telling us differently. Please Lord, allow David to become a miracle of recovery so you can be glorified and receive all the credit for his return to health. We will, however, Lord abide by your desire in David’s life to live as long as you have planned for him. If your desire is to take David to heaven Lord, please give him peace of mind and comfort knowing that You hold his future. Thanks Jesus. In Your name I pray. Amen
After praying, I release his hands and ask him this pointed question. “How have you been processing this turn of events in your life?” Listen to answer. Ask a few questions about his present disease and what he is thinking about at this time.
I then make this pointed comment by saying I heard a Pastor once tell a friend who was dying what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 11:25 which states
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
What this is saying is that, NO ONE will die. Everyone lives forever. No one dies. We will quit breathing but we will live in heaven or hell depending on our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Look them in the eye and say, “Do you feel absolutely, positively sure you will be going to heaven if God does not heal you?” Wait for their answer. If they say “Yes.” Then ask them this question, “Can you point to the exact time or circumstance you accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior?” Listen to their reply. Explain there are two parts to being born again which we find in Romans 10:9-10
9that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
You may want to have Romans 10:9-10 printed on a piece of paper or written out on a 3×5 card so they can see it in print as you read it to them. You can then leave the card with them.
Point out verse 9 says a person must believe in his heart that they are a sinner. Then ask question: “Do you believe you are a sinner?” wait for an answer. Most will reply yes I feel I am a sinner.
Tell them that Verse 9 also states Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead. Ask Question, “Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins?” Wait for a reply.
If they say yes, explain verse 10 says at the end, “with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” I then ask if they can remember a specific date, time or circumstance they prayed that prayer?” If they say yes, I reply “Tell me about it.” Listen for reply. Most struggle with the words exact date and many times reply, “I don’t remember the exact date” but I think I did it. Ask them “Can you remember the circumstance and time in your life where you specifically ask Jesus Christ to become your Savior because of your sin nature?”
If you feel they maybe don’t understand the questions or they have not done it, I suggest you ask permission to ask them two questions.
I would say, “David. May I ask you two important questions?”
- “Does this information make sense to you? Wait for reply”
- “Is there any reason you would not want to pray to accept Christ at this very moment?”
Zig Ziglar use to tell me, “Duke, you have got the greatest product in the world, close the sale.” Remember this person’s life depends on their relationship with Christ.
If they seem weak with their answer, simple say, “If you are not absolutely positively sure you have prayed the prayer of salvation, would they be willing to do it right now?” It is very permissible to do it several times.
I had an 85 year old man that told me he wanted to pray the prayer but he had never prayed to God in his entire lifetime. I took his hands and said,
“Praying is like talking to God. Let me help you talk to God.” Ask him/her to repeat after you.
Lord Jesus, I admit to you I am a sinner. (wait for them to repeat)
Lord Jesus, I believer you died on a cross and rose again from death. (wait)
Lord Jesus, please become my Savior today. (wait)
Lord Jesus, I believe by praying this prayer I will be guaranteed to spend eternity in heaven. (wait)
Please become Lord of my life, the short time I have left with my family. (wait for reply)
Thanks Jesus. In Your Name I Pray. Amen
Keeping ahold of their hands, I suggest you personally pray after they have prayed. A suggested prayer would be ,
“Lord, Thanks for allowing David to pray the prayer of salvation on this date, (repeat todays date). He can always tell anyone who asks that he is sure of going to heaven because of today’s date of praying to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. Lord, please give David courage to tell every single blood relative that he prayer the salvation prayer and ask them if they know for sure they are going to heaven. Give David the courage to encourage his blood relatives to make sure they are going to heaven as he wants to spend eternity with them.
Lord, the angels in heaven are rejoicing because of David’s decision to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. I know Jesus is so pleased with David’s prayer.
Thanks Jesus in your name we pray. Amen
I had a brother in law who had previous to his sickness told me that he was sure he was going to heaven because he had gone to church and Sunday school his whole life. He felt he was ok with Christ and going to heaven.
Because he was a bully extrovert, I decided to hit him with a hard opening when I saw him laying in the hospital bed at my sisters house. I said, “Harry. They tell me you are going to die?” He replied that He felt that was true. I then simply said, “Are you absolutely positively sure you are going to heaven?” He replied, “He hoped so.” I asked, “Would you like to know for sure you are going to go to heaven?” He relied, “Yes he would.” I lead him in the sinners prayer outlined in this podcast.
If you have a blood relative or close friend who is dying and little time to live, please consider using the techniques discussed in this podcast. I will be happy to communicate with you about any specific blood relative conflict you need to overcome before sharing Christ. Just email me at dukeheller@mayishare.com and share with me your concerns. I will then call you and we can discuss
Remember the goal of sharing our faith is to ask the bottom line question, “Can you point to the exact time or circumstance you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior?” It may be that the person is so weak, this is the only question you ask them. If they seem to be partially unconscious, hold their hands and ask them to squeeze your hand if they would like to know absolutely positively sure they are going to heaven. Lead them in the pray with hand squeezing that Jesus Christ understands better than we do.
I am willing to send you a book free that gives you techniques of sharing your faith in a non-threatening way. Just contact me at dukeheller@mayishare.com or go to mayishare.com to request your free copy and the “Bridge” brochure.
Thanks for being part of the Mayishare Podcast family.
Make a great day….in Christ